School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-In this, the fourth book in the "Birchbark House" series, Omakayas is now grown and the mother of eight-year-old twin boys, one of whom is kidnapped. As Chickadee and his family try to find one another, Erdrich eloquently imparts Ojibwe stories, history, and knowledge, and, as in the previous books, her own illustrations add charm to the stories. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
If the Birchbark House series is the Native American counterpart to Wilders Little House, this fourth installment might be considered Erdrichs Little Town on the Prairie (rev. 1/42). Set a generation after the first three books, Chickadee centers on the now-adult Omakayass eight-year-old twin sons, Chickadee and Makoons. When Chickadee is abducted from the Ojibwe camp in the deep woods, it not only initiates a string of gripping adventures for the boy but also signals the beginning of a change to his familys way of life: in searching for him they establish themselves in a village on the Great Plains, abandoning the great northern forests and their traditional nomadic existence. Readers will absorb the history lesson almost by osmosis; their full attention will be riveted on the story, whether its Chickadee escaping his (ultimately buffoonish) captors or riding with his uncle Quill in an oxcart train bound for Saint Paul or surviving a vicious mosquito attack ("millions and millions of mosquitoes landed on the flesh of every living being in the oxcart train") or calmly picking baby snakes off the sleeping, phobic Quill. Every detail anticipates readers interest. Chickadee himself is a most sympathetic character -- small in stature but big in heart, like his namesake; and though its mostly his story, interspersed scenes depicting the left-behind Makoonss grief make the brothers reunion at the end all the sweeter. A map, historical prologue, and glossary of Ojibwe terms are appended. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Erdrich continues the saga of Omakayas and her family, who now embark in 1866 on a life-changing search that takes them from Minnesota's North Woods to the Great Plains in this fourth book of The Birchbark House Series. Omakayas is now a young mother with lively 8-year-old twins named Chickadee and Makoons. When the tribe's bully, Zhigaag, calls Chickadee a "weakling" who's "scrawny like his namesake," grandmother Nokomis reminds him that "[s]mall things have great power." After Makoons tricks Zhigaag, his oafish sons avenge their father by hijacking Chickadee to the Red River Valley. Chickadee's family searches desperately until they reach Pembina on the Great Plains. Meanwhile, resourceful Chickadee escapes and survives with help from his wee namesake until he runs into his Uncle Quill driving an ox cart of furs to sell in St. Paul. Quill and Chickadee travel with fellow traders on the Red River ox cart trail, arriving in Pembina to find Makoons seriously ill. Chickadee and Makoons extend Omakaya's story to the next generation as her Ojibwe family transitions from its native woods culture to life on the plains. Realistic black-and-white spot art provides snapshots of Chickadee's adventures. A beautifully evolving story of an indigenous American family. (map; glossary pronunciation guide of Ojibwe terms) (Historical fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In the fourth book in Erdrich's award-winning Birchbark House series, the focus moves to a new generation. In 1866, when Omakayas' son, Chickadee, eight, is kidnapped, his twin, Makoons, and his family take off across the cold, snowy Great Plains to find Chickadee, who escapes his captors and then encounters white English settlers, including a kind priest who wants to save Chickadee's soul, and racist Christians, who view Indians as pagan filthy savages. Best for those familiar with the series, the story includes a huge, multigenerational cast of characters, and some readers may have trouble keeping track of who's who. As always, the focus is on the way-of-life details as much as the adventure and on the daily, logistical drama of how the family moves from all that they have known to the Great Plains. Most affecting are the descriptions of Makoons' loneliness without his brother; even in the crowded cabin, There was empty space that could be filled only by Chickadee. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Erdrich's literary clout makes any new release a notable event, and the Birchbark House series has a large and growing following.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
